Defense moves for mistrial in Lake County double-murder trial

LAKEPORT -- The Robby Alan Beasley double-murder trial could have been derailed on the first day of evidence after the defense moved for a mistrial in the wake of testimony from the alleged accomplice late Wednesday afternoon.

Defense counsel Stephen Carter said witness Elijah Bae McKay "decided to try to stab my client in the back" by making an impermissible comment in the jury's presence.

Judge Andrew S. Blum ordered Carter and deputy district attorney Art Grothe to file briefs on the mistrial request by Thursday morning in advance of a hearing on the pending motion.

Beasley, 32, of Clearlake pleaded not guilty to three felonies, including two murder counts, for the shooting deaths of Frank and Yvette Maddox, whose decomposing bodies were found at the bottom of a Lower Lake embankment in March 2010.

The prosecution alleges Beasley recruited the Maine couple to help with a Lake County marijuana operation in 2009 but shot them Jan. 22, 2010 after suspecting they stole marijuana from his apartment.

McKay, 30, of Lower Lake faces two murder counts after allegedly selling Beasley the gun and helping him destroy evidence. He took the stand less than an hour after Carter completed his opening statement.

McKay is charged as a co-defendant, but is not standing trial at the same time as Beasley.

About an hour into his testimony, McKay claimed Beasley described a plan to kill Frank Maddox, 32, and Yvette Maddox, 40, on Jan. 20, 2010.

"He talked about killing people before and never done it," McKay said.

The comment came as the judge raised his arm in an attempt to stop McKay from testifying beyond the scope of the prosecutor's question.

Carter immediately objected and asked that the jurors be cleared from the courtroom.

"This is why I'm trying to clamp down on his narratives," Blum said after removing the jury.

The defense attorney then motioned for a mistrial, arguing McKay's statement prejudiced the jury against Beasley.

Petersen argued the past conversations his client alluded to were "nothing more than idle talk" and "he didn't think (the Jan. 20, 2010) discussion was serious either."

Excused briefly while the judge and attorneys discussed the situation, McKay returned to the courtroom and clarified his comment after jurors were excused for the day.

McKay claimed Beasley talked about killing people occasionally in anger during the late-1990s and early-2000s. He said he learned Beasley didn't make those types of threats seriously because "nobody ever died."

Grothe and Carter are expected to argue on mistrial motion Thursday morning in Lake County Superior Court, Department 3.

McKay is one of the main prosecution witnesses in the case. He told the jury he received no deal in exchange for his testimony.

The alleged accomplice spent most of his time on the stand explaining how he, Beasley and the Maddoxes -- all originally from Maine -- made their way to Lake County.

McKay said he let Beasley come out and work on his marijuana operation in 2008.

Beasley suggested Frank and Yvette Maddox be hired on in October 2009, according to McKay, who said he soon fired the couple because they didn't get along with the other marijuana trimmers and Frank Maddox tried to strong-arm him.

The couple's relationship with Beasley also soured and Beasley believed they stole marijuana from his Lower Lake apartment in January 2010, according to McKay.

He hadn't yet described the night of the shooting when the mistrial motion halted his testimony.

Prior to McKay taking the stand, the jury heard from the man who discovered the bodies in early March 2010 and the first sheriff's deputy to respond to the site.

Grothe and Carter gave their opening statements earlier in the day.

Before testimony started, Beasley admitted to the court that he was convicted of a felony, criminal threatening with a firearm, in Kennebec County, Maine in June 2007.

The conviction is an element of the third count in the Lake County case, which alleges Beasley was a felon in possession of a firearm.

Jeremy Walsh is a staff reporter for Lake County Publishing. Reach him at 263-5636, ext. 37 or jwalsh@record-bee.com. Follow trial coverage live on Twitter, @JeremyDWalsh or #RobbyBeasley.